Boulder was my US base for the better part of 20 years, and it will always have a special place in my heart. I moved there in 1990, as a student at the University of Colorado, and it was perfect back then. It was a diamond in the rough, and it still is to some extent. The problem with Boulder as a student though, is there's too much to do there beyond studying.

If you like the outdoors, Colorado is a big adventure playground for adults: it's great for skiing, cycling, climbing, and hiking. But there's also lots of fantastic bars and places to eat, and there's a great music scene. A couple of favourite places are Vic's Coffee (2680 Broadway Street at Alpine) – an awesome place to start the day. Just to the right of it is a great greasy spoon called Marie's Cafe, which won't break the piggy bank; you'll probably save money by eating there.

I discovered Boulder not through cycling but skiing. I was recruited by the university for the ski team, and in my opinion it's the best place for skiing – you have this super-light, fluffy champagne snow. But in my sophomore year, I had an accident in training and broke two vertebrae in my upper back. I was off the skis for the winter, but my doctor said I could ride a road bike for physical therapy. So, every day after school, I'd go ride my bike.

Fourth of July trail in the Rocky Mountains, near Nederland, Colorado. Photograph: Blaine Harrington III/Alamy

You can ride year-round there. People think because it's in Colorado, during the winter there's tons of snow and will be impossible to ride your bike, but Boulder is in the Front Range of Colorado, in the foothills of the Rockies, so while the mountains get smothered in snow, Boulder stays pretty dry.

I used to go on these crazy long rides. One of the best is the Peak to Peak Highway north of Boulder – they say it's a highway, but it's a rolling road that undulates from probably 2,286m all the way up to 3,000m over 55 miles. It's the most beautiful ride with breathtaking views of the mountains. When you look to the west you see the Continental Divide – a spectacular range that runs from Canada, through the US down to Mexico. Rain and snow that lands on the east of the Divide goes to the Mississippi river and the Atlantic Ocean; anything to the west goes to the Pacific, so it's pretty cool.

Most people don't feel like riding 900m to get to the most beautiful part of the ride, so just drive up to Nederland, where I bought my first home in 1995. It's about 15 miles up a windy, twisting canyon, and the town stands at 2,500m on the Peak to Peak Highway. This can be the start and finish of your ride. Have breakfast at the Whistler Cafe (121 North Jefferson Street, Nederland) – go for the mountain muffin – and then set off north on your ride. Your first rest stop will be a small town called Ward at 2,880m – population around 150 people and one little country store – it's a quirky town but I love it. If they could be their own little republic, I think they would. These sorts of places make you feel like you're still in the wild west.

I'd never really experienced the west before moving to Colorado. The east coast, where I grew up, has a lot of big cities, like Boston and New York, and is more densely populated, and I instantly fell in love with the big open spaces of the west, where you can see not just for a few miles but for a few hundred miles. Once I'd experienced it, it felt like something I'd been missing. I don't think I'll ever move back east.

I had no idea that Boulder was a huge cycling destination. But there I was riding in this big country and I just loved it. Before I knew it I was running into a lot of good bike racers. People such as Andy Hampsten [winner of the 1988 Giro d'Italia], who was later my team-mate; Davis Phinney; and Bobby Stuckey, who now co-owns Frasca, one of the best restaurants in Boulder. It was just amazing and I still look back and think, wow, I was really lucky to learn from these guys. If I hadn't gone to university in Boulder, I would never have been a professional cyclist.

Ghent's slightly bonkers Six-Days race meeting kicks off next week. But it's not just about the cycling – many people are here to party. Andy Pietrasik joins them, and also explores this cool but underrated city